Just a Hike in the Mountains
by Jay Navi
Summary: On a regular hike in the mountains, Killua's world changes. Note: Takes place about a month after the end of the Election Arc so there will be spoilers for anime-only viewers.


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A/N: Hello! It's been a while. First off, I want to apologize for lack of Redux updates. Despite getting all the info I needed last month, I had a continual problem with my computer. It kept freezing on me when watching videos. To make a long story short, we took it in, found it was a problem with the motherboard and now it's all better. Now, you may be asking why this isn't the Redux. Well, I need a bit more time to get inspiration for that. But it will continue. Eventually. Until then, I thought up this cute little scenario. Of course, the scenario is longer written out and it's not yet complete. I had intended this to be a one-shot, but as you know, I am terrible at one-shots so I decided to make this a short story. It really does come down to "just a hike in the mountains" but you'll find out later. Until then, enjoy!  
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Just a Hike in the Mountains

Chapter 1: "Always Wear A Suit When You're On A Date"

"Gon!" I yelled, "How much farther is it to the top?"

"Not much, Killua!" Gon yelled back, "Just a couple more flat areas and we'll be there!"

"Hurry up, Big Brother!" my sister, Alluka, yelled at me.

"I'm hurrying!" I responded.

Gon had convinced Alluka and me to go on a hike up in the mountains. I had tried to protest that I wasn't very good at hiking up hills, but Alluka was overjoyed at the three of us doing something together that I couldn't refuse. Before this, it was just me and Gon doing things alone. I had to ask someone to look over Alluka wile we went out.

I-it's not in the way that it sounds. Really! It's just friends doing things as friend, that's all. Though, I suppose in order to understand that, I'm gonna have to explain things from the beginning. At least, the beginning of my new life.

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It started when Gon, Alluka and I arrived at the World Tree, where Gon was going to meet his father. Gon and I had had a pretty rough time of it the past month or so and felt like we needed some time apart. It was tough leaving him after all the time I was by side, but I had to look after Alluka. She needed my protection because the rest of my family didn't view her the way I did.

And so, we separated with a 'see you later'. Gon started his climb up the World Tree and I took Alluka and went to another town. We stayed in town for only a few days, renting a hotel room with my Hunter's License before we moved on to the next town. It was like this for a couple weeks and I knew Alluka was getting tired of moving from place to place so I decided to buy us a house in the next town we came to. That's where we lived for a few weeks until it happened.

One day, there was a knock on the door. I opened it cautiously just a crack so I could see who it was. It was Gon. I opened the door all the way and invited him in. However, he declined.

"Sorry," he said after declining my invitation, "I just wanted to stop by and ask…if you'd…l-like to have dinner with me sometime?"

He was nervous. It was a side of him I'd never really seen before. He was always so outgoing and confident. I didn't think he could even be nervous!

"Uh, sure!" I said, "Alluka and I-"

"No!" I was cut off by Gon's sudden outburst. He suddenly got very timid again and said, "Um… I mean, I was thinking it'd just be you and me. You know… like old times?"

I blinked. I looked behind me at Alluka, who nodded, and then said, "uh, okay."

Gon suddenly became less shy and said, "Great! How about I meet you here at seven?"

"Tonight?" I asked.

"Is that not good?" He asked, suddenly becoming sad.

"N-no," I said, "Seven tonight is fine."

"Yay!" He exclaimed, "I mean… see you at seven!"

Gon ran off with a huge grin on his face. I swear, that kid had more mood swings than that old hag did when we were training with her in Greed Island. I closed the door and turned around. Alluka had almost the same expression on her face as Gon did on his.

"What?" I asked her.

"We have to get you ready, Big Brother." She said grabbing my arm and pulling me away.

We ended up at the bathroom and she started running some water in the tub. She said I needed to have a shower because I stank. I tried to protest my smelliness and she just laughed. I was confused at her laughter.

"Never mind," she said, "You just shower while I pick out some clothes for you to wear."

We had stopped at a few clothing stores in some of the towns we stayed in and bought many different outfits. All of my outfits were picked out by Alluka. As I showered, I feared which outfit she'd pick out for me. I hoped it wouldn't be embarrassing.

When I got out of the shower, Alluka held up a hanger with a suit on it. The suit jacket was blue with pin-stripes so thin that you could hardly tell they were there and the pants were matching. The tie she picked out was mostly white with blue stripes going diagonally down and around it. The shirt, thankfully, was just a plain white dress shirt.

"Is a suit really necessary?" I asked her.

"Yep," she said, "You always wear a suit when you go on a date."

I felt a bit of red coming to my cheeks. "It's not a date." I said.

"Then you won't wear the suit?" She asked, putting a fake frown on, "But I thought so hard to pick it out for you…"

"Fine," I caved, "I'll wear the suit. Now get out while I change."

She giggled as she put the suit on the bed I slept in and left the room. A date? How did she come to that conclusion? It was just two friends who haven't seen each other in a while having dinner together. That's it. I didn't think it was even possible for boys to go on 'a date'.

I put the suit on and came out of the room just as somebody knocked on the door. As I had before, I opened it a crack to see who it was and then all the way after seeing Gon. This time, Gon wasn't alone. Standing beside his was a tall woman with long black hair wearing a hat you'd see in a fashion magazine and a long coat.

"Palm?" I asked.

"Hello, Killua." Palm said.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"I thought you would want somebody here to watch over Alluka," Gon said, bringing my gaze over to him, "so, I asked her to come. I hope you don't mind."

"Uh, no," I said, still focusing on Gon, "Not at all. Palm, please, come in."

I stood to the side to let Palm through the door. She took off her hat and coat and I told her where to put them. My eyes kept going back to Gon, though. He was wearing a suit, as well. His suit was light green in color and he wore a tie similar to mine, but green.

I stepped out of the door and said, "Alluka, be good for Palm."

"Yes, Big Brother." She replied.

I told Palm that if anybody knocks she should check to see who it was first and then left with Gon. As we walked, we talked about all of the fun times we had on our journey. We laughed at some of them. It felt nice to just talk like that with him.

"So, did Palm pick out your suit?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "No," he said, "I just thought that since this is the first time we've done something like this, I'd wear something different. That, and Aunt Mito always told me to wear a suit when you're on a-" He stopped himself and laughed, "Well, that doesn't matter."

Gon's aunt told him the same thing Alluka told me? Do all girls think the same? Or is there some magazine out there that tells them these things? More importantly: did Gon actually believe this was a date?

We arrived at the restaurant that Gon said had 'really delicious food'. He put his arm around mine and said it'd help us get a table faster. I wasn't so sure about that at first, but it did seem to work. We got a table almost immediately after we showed up and ordered our food.

I hate to say it, but Gon's description was pretty accurate because it was a good meal. I offered to pay for mine, but Gon insisted on paying. He said it was his idea to go to the restaurant so he should pay. I didn't buy that explanation but let him pay, anyway.

We left the restaurant the same way we entered, arm-in-arm. It felt a little unnatural for his arm to be around mine, but at the same time, it felt right. It felt like we hadn't been separated at all and that he was always right beside me. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't realize we had been walking arm-in-arm the whole way back to my house.

It was only when we were at the door did I realize it. I swiftly removed my arm from his. There was some silence between us, not knowing if the other should something or what to say. Finally, Gon extended his hand to me (albeit a bit awkwardly) and I took it (awkwardly).

"Uh, thanks for tonight," I said, "Let's do it again sometime."

"Yeah," Gon said, "We should."

I hit myself on the forehead inwardly for suggesting to Gon something like that. However, I felt like it was the right thing to say. I had enjoyed myself that evening and I wanted to enjoy myself again. I realized that our handshake was going on for a while so I let go of his hand and opened the door.

"Well, I'll talk to you later, then." I said as I went inside.

"Yeah," Gon said, "Later."

I closed the door behind me and called out, "I'm home."

Palm walked out of the room and put a finger to her lips. I didn't expect Alluka to be sleeping already. I asked Palm how much money she wanted for watching Alluka but she said she did it as a favour and would gladly do it again. I thanked her as she left the house and went into the room.

Alluka was sleeping peacefully. I undressed and put the suit back on its hanger. Then I laid down on my bed and went to sleep. For the first time in a couple months, I had a smile on my face while I slept.


End file.
